Maithripala Sirisena

President of Sri Lanka

Pallewatte Gamaralage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena 3 September 1951 Yagoda, Dominion of Ceylon

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9 January 2015 – 18 November 2019

Sri Lankan politician His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena MPමෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන மைத்திரிபால சிறிசேன 7th President of Sri LankaIn office 9 January 2015 – 18 November 2019Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe Mahinda RajapaksaPreceded by Mahinda RajapaksaSucceeded by Gotabaya RajapaksaMinister of DefenceIn office 12 January 2015 – 18 November 2019PresidentHimselfPrime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Mahinda RajapaksaPreceded by Mahinda RajapaksaSucceeded by Gotabaya RajapaksaMinister of Mahaweli Development and EnvironmentIn office 12 January 2015 – 18 November 2019PresidentHimselfPrime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Mahinda RajapaksaPreceded by Susil PremajayanthaIn office 23 November 2005 – 23 April 2010PresidentMahinda RajapaksaPrime Minister Ratnasiri WickremanayakeSucceeded by Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena Cabinet posts Minister of HealthIn office 23 April 2010 – 21 November 2014PresidentMahinda RajapaksaPrime Minister D. M. JayaratnePreceded by Nimal Siripala de SilvaSucceeded by Tissa AttanayakeMinister of Irrigation, Mahaweli and Rajarata DevelopmentIn office 10 August 2004 – 23 November 2005PresidentChandrika KumaratungaPrime Minister Mahinda RajapaksaMinister of Mahaweli Development and Parliamentary AffairsIn office 1997–2001PresidentChandrika KumaratungaPrime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Sirimavo BandaranaikePreceded by S. B. DissanayakeSucceeded by A. H. M. AzwerDeputy Minister of IrrigationIn office 1994–1997PresidentChandrika KumaratungaPrime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike Leadership positions 5th Chairman of BIMSTECIn office 31 August 2018 – 18 November 2019Preceded by Khadga Prasad OliSucceeded by Gotabaya Rajapaksa6th Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Freedom PartyIncumbentAssumed office 15 January 2015Preceded by Mahinda Rajapaksa19th Leader of the HouseIn office 3 May 2004 – 9 August 2005PresidentChandrika KumaratungaPrime Minister Mahinda RajapaksaPreceded by W. J. M. LokubandaraSucceeded by Nimal Siripala de SilvaGeneral Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom PartyIn office October 2001 – 21 November 2014ChairpersonChandrika Kumaratunga Mahinda RajapaksaPreceded by S. B. DissanayakeSucceeded by Anura Priyadharshana Yapa Constituencies Member of Parliament for Polonnaruwa DistrictIncumbentAssumed office 20 August 2020Majority111,137 Preferential VotesIn office 9 March 1989 – 9 January 2015Succeeded by Jayasinghe BandaraMajority90,118 Preferential Votes Personal detailsBornPallewatte Gamaralage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (1951-09-03 ) 3 September 1951 (age 69) Yagoda, Dominion of CeylonCitizenshipSri LankanNationalitySri LankaPolitical partySri Lanka Freedom Party (1968–Present) Communist Party of Ceylon (1966–1968) Other political affiliationsSri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance (2019–present) United People's Freedom Alliance(2004–2019) New Democratic Front (2014–2015) People's Alliance (1994–2004) Spouse(s)Jayanthi Pushpa KumariChildrenChathurika Daham DharaniAlma materMaxim Gorky Literature InstituteOccupationPoliticianSignature Pallewatte Gamaralalage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena (Sinhala: පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන ; Tamil: பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரிபால யாப்பா சிறிசேன ; born 3 September 1951) is a Sri Lankan politician, who served as the seventh President of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province of the country and does not belong to the traditional Sri Lankan political elite. He is currently a member of parliament from Polonnaruwa. Sirisena joined mainstream politics in 1989 as a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and has held several ministries since 1994. He was the general-secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was Minister of Health until November 2014 when he announced his candidacy for the 2015 presidential election as the opposition coalition's "common candidate". His victory in the election is generally viewed as a surprise, coming to office through the votes won from the alternative Sinhala-majority rural constituency and the Tamil and Muslim minority groups that have been alienated by the Rajapaksa government on post-war reconciliation and growing sectarian violence. Maithripala Sirisena pledged to implement a 100-day reform program where he promised to rebalance the executive branch within 100 days of being elected, by reinforcing Sri Lanka's judiciary and parliament, to fight corruption and to investigate allegations of war crimes from 2009, repeal the controversial eighteenth amendment, re-instate the seventeenth amendment and appoint UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister. He later was reported to have publicly disavowed this program, claiming that he did not know where it originated. Sirisena was sworn in as the sixth Executive President before Supreme Court judge K. Sripavan in Independence Square, Colombo at 6.20pm on 9 January 2015. Immediately afterwards he appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new Prime Minister. After being sworn in Sirisena stated that he would only serve one term. Sirisena voluntarily transferred significant presidential powers to parliament on 28 April. He is well known for surprising Sri Lankans by issuing gazettes every Friday since 26 October 2018. In 2018, Sirisena appointed the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa (his former rival) as the Prime Minister, wrote a letter firing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (with whose major support he became the president in 2015) and prorogued Parliament, all in apparent contradiction to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, instigating a constitutional crisis. This marks Sirisena's second, and most successful attempt to bring Rajapaksa to power.